Volume III

Koel Ghosh, Dennis Degeneffe, Jean Kinsey, and Thomas Stinson ABSTRACT: U.S. residents are very concerned about terrorist attacks and they are willing to commit substantial sums to prevent further terrorist incidents, according to the results of a large national survey of the public’s thoughts about terrorism. Protecting against another 9/11-style incident is essential, but American’s…

James Burch ABSTRACT: The intelligence community has attempted to refocus to track terrorists that use unconventional means — a more complex task. This complexity is compounded by terrorist disregard for borders, laws, and transnational financing. As a result, the U.S. has attempted to change its concept of domestic intelligence through enactment of legislation and other…

Download the full issue. The articles in this issue of Homeland Security Affairs demonstrate the arc of homeland security studies – from how we think about and address terrorism to how we communicate with one another when dealing with the immediate aftermath of a terrorist attack or natural disaster. Illustrating the arc those studies have…

Eric Bonabeau and W. David Stephenson ABSTRACT: Since Hurricane Katrina, attention has focused on improving management of response to natural disasters and terrorist attacks. However, what if the current management approach is so fundamentally mismatched to the challenge at hand that, even when improved, it is still unequal to the task? This essay argues that…

Uri Fisher ABSTRACT: This article explores the practical obstacles to applying deterrence to United States counterterrorism policy. Many commentators still discuss deterrence as a tool for U.S. policymakers to use to prevent future terrorist attacks on the U.S. homeland or its interests abroad. This paper argues that, while theoretically deterrence may be a viable approach…

Ronald Timmons ABSTRACT: Communications continues to be a major issue in post-disaster after-action reports. Under the umbrella term interoperability, grant funding is facilitating deployment of equipment to enable field personnel to patch radio systems together, with the expectation of improving emergency scene communications. However, numerous causal factors, beyond hardware limitations, contribute to inadequate disaster communications.…

Christopher Bellavita ABSTRACT: In this essay, Christopher Bellavita reviews what he considers to be ten essential homeland security books, those works he finds himself returning to as he seeks to understand contemporary homeland security events. These include the 9/11 Commission Report (2004); The National Strategy for Homeland Security (2002); After: How America Confronted the September…

Ian Lustick ABSTRACT: The War on Terror continues to attract the allegiance of every politician in the country, whether as a justification for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq (to win in the “central front” in the War on Terror), or as a justification for withdrawing them (to win the really crucial battles in the War…